106. CHRIS HADFIELD: An astronaut’s advice

Chris Hadfield (August 1959-) is a Canadian astronaut currently on assignment aboard the International Space Station. He will become the first Canadian Commander of the ISS when Expedition 35 takes over this March.

Hadfield has become an Internet-celebrity, using social media and YouTube to share what daily life is like aboard the ISS. He regularly tweets breath-taking photos of Earth (here is a selection of his best pics) and has a YouTube channel with videos on everything from how he operates a giant robotic arm to how he eats a peanut butter and honey pita sandwich (bread isn’t used because of the crumbs). This particular quote is taken from a recent Redditt ‘Ask me anything’ session Hadfield took part in while aboard the ISS. A youngster asked if Hadfield had any advice for an aspiring astronaut, and this quote was his reply.

I think history ALSO shows us that for Authors to create prolific and popular work they should be paid for it and copyright, although legally abused in some cases by large organisations, also allows them to earn money for what they write. Without out we’d have far less books than we have today.

That’s cute, if incredibly fucking idiotic. Plenty of authors write what they do because while they love it, the fact that they get paid for it is what lets them actually do it. Take away that and the world gets absolutely more destitute in terms of available books, because the people who are right now typing away at their next paycheck would be working jobs that would consume their time and energy.

Claiming otherwise simply marks you as a cockwaffle who has never bothered to discover the sheer effort that writing takes.

Are you for-real suggesting that authors shouldn’t be paid because they’d write even if they weren’t paid?

If so, you’re an asshole. Writing is my JOB. I deserve to get paid for it. I deserve to have my rights to my work protected so that there is control over who can profit from it. Copyright law is flawed, but the concept is necessary.

It’s true that it wouldn’t benefit the publishing industry if we removed copyright. But it’s not true at all that we wouldn’t have writers and authors. We’ve had writing for 6000 years, and the oldest copyright legislation is a few centuries old. The original idea of copyright was invented by the publishers. Under the guise of “creators’ rights” they suggested that only the creator can publish their own work, which back then was a good idea since only publishers with printing presses could do the publishing, which meant the publishers would get a good share of the profit.

Of course nowadays anyone can publish anything online, books, movies or music. And the same technology that allows them to do that, also makes it possible for everyone to produce new copies. Either we get rid of the internet and modern computing, or we accept fact: Copying of information is as hard is it’s going to get, and it’s only going to get easier.

Also, copyright is not about owning anything, it’s just the monopoly on copying something. This monopoly infringes on actual property rights, in my opinion.

You could always bring the .jpg on an SD card to somewhere like Walmart or somewhere that can blow it up and print it themselves. I don’t condone taking business from Gav, but if he isn’t allowed to sell it, then maybe you could take it on yourself to make an enlarged personal copy so long as you’re not making money off it yourself.

It’s not theft, since it’s not actual property which is forcefully taken from someone and now is in the hands of someone else. It is however the creation of a derivative work, which might indeed infringe on copyright. But it’s not theft.

Love this comic. Cmdr. Hadfield gave a similar talk to a group of students here in Scotland (myself included) via Skype from Star City, Russia during his preparations for his journey last june. Truly inspiring man!

Gav, thank you for this comic, though I struggle to call anything you do a ‘comic’. Richie Rich was a comic. This is something more. I saw Cmdr Hadfield speak to a group of students (myself included) when he was still a fighter pilot, and he mentioned his aspirations to one day be selected for a space mission, though at the time, I think he still thought it was a pipe dream. It’s good to see he followed his own advice. I also wanted to express my appreciation for the attention to Canadian details. Your Maple Leaf even has eleven points. Awesome stuff.

I love it!!! I was just thinking the same frase, over and over, there is another which I created”I will be flying with the Eagles”, love the space and the stars, and I love the” One who created it, the Great I Am”. Thank you for sharing this amazing expereinces!!!!

Andre, it is never too late! I don’t mean drop everything you’re doing and jump to what you want, but you can always start nudging your life in the direction you want it to take. I studied to be a hardware engineer till I decided writing code was more my style than meddling with chips. I worked at programming in my free time, and I am now a programmer at one of the best known software companies in the world. An ex-colleague who was writing code quit her job and now works with non-profit organizations to help uplift the poor and downtrodden. Another is a percussionist in a professional band and he manages that along with his coding job. You can always try to move your life in the direction you want it to take. Problems? I know kids in developing countries who work during the day and study under streetlights from books discarded by those who can afford them – and they have reached great heights. We all have problems; it is up to us to make the time and put in the effort needed to move our lives in the direction we want it to take. And if you are focussed on something, you’ll see opportunities where you saw none before. I guess it just depends on how badly we want something. Even if we don’t make it, at least we’ll be happy that we tried.

Am I at the perfect place in life because I did what I wanted? Nope. I still have other things I want to try, and some of them seem impossible. Heck, most of them do. I’m still going to try though; because I know that the regret of not having tried is harder for me to live with than living with failing to get what I want. Without trying, you’re pretty much failing anyway.

I don’t think there is ever a perfect sweet spot in life. Once you reach a goal you’ve set in life, you’ll realize there are more things you now want to do or achieve. Or as Louis L’Amour put it, there are more mountains to climb beyond the ones you scale. And I think that’s the best thing about life – there are always more mountains to climb and more oceans to cross. It’s up to us to get our behinds off our reclining chairs and have a go at life.

Thayu, that was amazing. I just wanted to thank you for that in case no one else does… I feel the same as Andre, but people like Chris Hadfield, Gavin Aung Than (who’s website I just bookmarked), and you apparently; I start thinking there might be more out there for me. So, thanks & take care.

Thayu, that was…absolutely beautiful.
Gav, thank you so much for this comic. I’m at a point in my life where people keep telling me that if I try, I can reach my goals, but I have no idea what those are. Your comics inspire me to keep trying anyway, and let the ends reveal themselves in due course.

Every Monday night is “Astronomy Night in Canada” on Astronomy.FM (http://astronomy.fm); and since we just happened to be talking about Cmdr Hadfield in tonight’s “York?Universe” program, I thought it would be neat to link to your page today – we also talked about your page on the live broadcast. (I’ll send you a link when the replay is up; likely tomorrow.)

As contacts, glasses, and laser surgery increase prominence in society, and eyesight flaws (which I have)become less of a big deal, they will spread through the population, making the percentage able to join these physically elite jobs ever smaller. Indeed, this has mostly already happened I the first world.
No greater point to this, just wanted to say it.

OH MY GOD!! This is just what I needed. I swear this website works magic. First with the Alan Watts then with the Two Wolves. For some reason, when I need guidance, ZenPencils gives it to me. Thanks again Mr. Gavin; I appreciate this one! 🙂

A request: I have a little daughter who is only an infant today, but this is something I would love her to see and understand. Have you considered drawing this with a girl as well? Or perhaps a side-by-side version with a boy and a girl? There are scores of little girls out there, too, looking for inspiration to follow their dreams. I realise that you probably didn’t even intend your drawing to be gender-specific, but it happens way too often.

Secondly, though this is slightly picky, I bring it up precisely because you had such great attention to detail re: the military stuff — if those cadets/officers are standing at attention (and it kinda looks like they are – great job btw) then you’d want to tweak his hand… it should be in a fist, thumb outside, with the curled fingers against the side of the body.

This. is. wonderful.
And just yesterday when a physics class, fun as it is, kicked me in my mental nuts because the maths is just overwhelming that I frustatedly played video games till 2a.m. because I didn’t dare look at the sheet. I think wasting a day like this is just what lets life kick you into a person you don’t want to become.
It’s stuff like this on zenpencils that encourages me to self-discipline and actively shaping my life.

I first stumbled here when the Goddard comic came out and was quite amazed by it.Then I saw this on Tumblr and was amazed as ever.I also thought ‘Zen Pencils?It’s been awhile.’So I just finished reading every ZP comic in one sitting…my eyes! But oh so worth it.

I know what you mean and frankly when I first discovered the site I read 6 or 7 in one sitting. But the wonder wears off if you consume anything too fast. Also reading one a day gave me time to think about it.

LOVE this one of Chris! I used to work at Space Center Houston and this was always a question kids asked of the astronauts. This is the best answer I have seen/heard. Great job! Please put this one up for sale. You should get it into all the Science Center gift shops around North America, so many, many more kids can be inspired. Cheers!

Well, you tried you failed. But you tried. I’m fairly certain the vast majority of readers never even were considered for astronaut/ AF-Pilot training.
And now continue to live your life in a society that offers you everything without you having to fight for it. Considering you live in a country that has a space programm, I assume you have access to ample food sources, more than one tap for running water in your house, electricity and and as it seems even have internet access and were blessed with an education that allows you to become and astronaut.

Now take your daring adventure of trying for pilot/astronaut and the greatness of spirit this failure instilled in you and go inspire other people.

However if you still really want to be an astronaut, I’ll give you this: http://www.mars-one.com/ or Mars direct. I’m certain however that if you’re determined enough you can research you own space faring project…. google helps…

But who told you I hadn’t fought for everything? Society isn’t a magical wonderland, and it doesn’t give you things, even when it offers them.

I fought, and I failed. I failed not because I hadn’t tried enough, but because I had been born defective, unlucky, my journey was doomed since the beginning of it.
I haven’t seen the inspiring stories of a failure. Who needs them? Who needs the truth?

And you telling me about water and food sources. Take them! Take them all and my house, just let me into the sky!
But what space program needs a guy who goes blind and sick when pressure issues happen? There is no program like that. Including Mars program.
There are no pilots like me, and I understand – one guy like me could kill all the crew and lots of innocent people. Doesn’t make it any easier, if you ask me.

Well you were just a little rough in your choice of words and altough it still wasn’t nice to read I understand your emotion (But even if you passed, there’s no guarantee you would’ve been chosen for a mission). And thank you for sharing with honesty. To me what you said was an inspiration! Really! I’m also right now fighting my lack of early education at university, but I am so greatful I got the chance to study what I love. I don’t yet know if I will succeed because I lack a lot in math. But I’m learning right now what dedication means.
So, I don’t know you. But if I graduate, I will partially dedicate this to you.
Your dream went unfulfilled. I’m very sorry. But if I learned one thing lately it is that the entire creation is filled with awe and wonder, with beauty beyond measure. And we are free to explore it, to find out how the things that puzzle us work. We live in a time where we can freely travel vast parts of the world and learn about the people there. Not to mention the fun we can have with sports, dance and oh the relationships we can build with other people.
Altough I am very much in love with the idea of exploring a foreign planet. Ours is still the most exciting world we know. And altough I’d love to go to Mars, I frankly don’t want to be first to settle it and spend there rest of my life in a dead wasteland, restricted to a movement radius of 60km that the rover offers.
I encourage you to look at the previous zen pencil quotes and I truly hope and for you I’d even pray that you find inspiration there and in the people around you. I think it’s time you found a new dream, may I humbly suggest looking into how you could make the society that you feel mistreated you a better place? There is lots of people who don’t get the chances we have, simply because they were born in a different place, or as we learned in a previous post, are suppressed in other ways.
Either way, I hope out of the million things there are to do, you find one thing that tickles you and fulfills you with awe when you spend your time with it and even let’s you contribute positively to society.

So again, I truly do thank you for sharing your story. But I think even if I should fail, I will find something else and very exciting to do with my life on our earth.

Dolce’s position is very understandable. Yet Hadfield’s words are “you will be doing things in that suit you in a profession you believe in”. (by the way, if humanity is to become a space-faring species, the problem that Dolce faces must be solved somehow; someone has to work on that).

Dolce,
I understand your pain. And I’m not going to say chin up, life’s like that, or that there are others worse off or blah blah. To each, his pain. But could I suggest something? Something for you to consider. It may not help you get into space, but it sure is related!
You said you couldn’t get into space because you couldn’t stand high/low pressure. So why don’t you work on making it so that people don’t need to be able to stand such pressure variations? You might not solve it within your lifetime, or you might not be able to go to space for other reasons, but if not you, at least the people after you will benefit from your work. Since you are familiar with the process and since you probably have an idea of why you need to be able to stand such conditions, you probably are better qualified than most. And since it is a related field, you will probably be happier working on that. And who knows? You just might be lucky enough to enjoy the fruits of your labour if you get this sorted out! And I do sincerely hope you’re luckier than Rob Goddard in that. Just in the off chance that you haven’t heard of Rob Goddard, https://zenpencils.com/comic/64-robert-h-goddard-the-rocket-man/

In a way, I find him more inspiring than most others, because he’s a man who never gave up on his dream, despite at some point knowing he wouldn’t make it in his lifetime. I guess it simply shows how badly he wanted it… 🙂

And just to be clear, I’m not saying this is a “perfect substitute” for your dream or that this is a “oh, all my problems are solved and my life is perfect now” solution – heck, I don’t think there ever is such a solution for anyone in life… I’m just saying it is one possibility for the “next best thing”. Sometimes, when we know for sure we can’t get the best, it just might be better to settle for next best. And if you’re lucky, next best might just turn into better than the best!

Awesome advice! After years of fighting against my own wishes and desires, I finally gave in and now I am an adult I can be proud of! My boyfriend, dog and I are on the road, about to start giving away free pie in San Francisco to kick off a tour of the US.

This is the right direction. Hearing how we presently refer to space as some sort of abstract—like place or there—is what is busy extinguishing people’s vision of the future away or off planet earth. We can do better, and this comic is proof. Good for kids, good for kids, good for humans. Thank you and keep up the good work!

I first stumbled here when the Goddard comic came out and was quite amazed by it.Then I saw this on Tumblr and was amazed as ever.I also thought ‘Zen Pencils?It’s been awhile.’So I just finished reading every ZP comic in one sitting…my eyes! But oh so worth it.

You could always bring the .jpg on an SD card to somewhere like Walmart or somewhere that can blow it up and print it themselves. I don’t condone taking business from Gav, but if he isn’t allowed to sell it, then maybe you could take it on yourself to make an enlarged personal copy so long as you’re not making money off it yourself.

This is from the Buddha, but that is not my point. My point is, on what objective grounds do you accept the one teaching, and not the other? Presuming (or declaring) in advance that your religion or your holy book is the true one eliminates the possibility of meaningful debate.

That is the nice tips and hints certainly towards some of those having their first go blogosphere, temporary not to mention adequate information… Thanks a lot for the purpose of showing gas 4 free :. Vital read through piece of writing

This really Helped so much. I spent countless days and years thinking about ‘ What I want to do in life.’ I have never been asked ‘what is money didnt matter?’ The truth is I used to care so much about money. I own money not the other way around !!!

Your site is awesome. Glad you did this one, it led me to the video.
That’s just cool Neil himself loved your work! Congrats!
You’ve inspired me to do my own quote day. Not comic style, more painterly/sketchy single frame. Hope to post soon. Thanks.

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